How to Promote a Domain For Sale

Whether you already own a domain you want to sell or you’re dipping your toe into domain flipping, finding the right buyer is a matter of getting your domain in front of prospective buyers. But how do you do it? Depending on your target audience and the value of the domain, you’ve got options. It starts with where you list your domain and then it goes from there.

What’s In a Domain Name?

If you have an unused domain that you’re thinking about selling, how do you know if it’s worth it? The price you paid when you bought it can only tell you so much. Here are the factors that determine if someone else might want your domain: 

Length

Shorter domain names are more valuable than longer ones. Three letter domain names are in particularly high demand among domain investors.

Keywords

A domain’s SEO profile goes a long way in determining its value. The more people type a name into a search engine, the more traffic it will get. No matter how the buyer uses the domain, more traffic usually means more money in their pockets. Doing some SEO keyword research will tell you if the word(s) in your domain are typed into search engines often. 

Brandability

A company’s domain name is an important ingredient of their branding. That’s why buyers go for names that are: 

• Descriptive
• Unique
• User-friendly
• Credible
• Memorable

Top-Level Domain 

Some TLDs are in higher demand than others. .COM domains are by far the most popular, followed by .ORG and .NET. Your .COM domain will be especially valuable for resale if there are versions in different TLDs registered. Maybe the owners of those domains wanted the .COM but it was taken at the time.  

Focus on What You Know

There are millions of domains that are already registered and more are registered every day. They also create new domain extensions all the time. Anyone looking for a .CLUB or .APP domain? For a first-time investor, that can be overwhelming. Fortunately, you don’t have to think about all of them. Just the ones in your 

Start with domains related to topics that you have firsthand experience with. These could be industries that you’ve worked in, side hustles, hobbies, or any other interest. It’s easier to know what potential buyers want in a domain if you and your colleagues and friends are also part of that pool. You’ll also probably enjoy it more than buying and selling domains from trending topics you have no interest in just because they’re trending. 

Build a Domain Name Portfolio with Real Value

Once you’ve chosen your target industries and topics, start looking for domains with resale value related to those categories and buy, register, or backorder them. Types of domains that make a strong domain name portfolio include: 

Generic Domain Names

Domains that include words that describe a product or service without mentioning a company name are a great investment. This is especially true if the product or service is related to a trending topic. Some examples of generic domain names that have sold for high prices include: 

• Carinsurance.com - $49.7 million
• Vacationrentals.com - $35 million
• Voice.com - $30 million
• Internet.com $18 million 

Geographic Domain Names

Domain names that include the names of cities or countries are good investment material. Potential buyers could include new local business owners or web developers looking to build community portals. 

Business Domain Names

Domain names with generic business names like dentist, plumber, or chiropractor are great for selling to business owners. For more niche targeting, combine them with a location name. Chicagoplumber.com or nycdentist.com could be a money grab. The best part about combination domain names like these is that they’re more likely to be available for new registrations than other generic domains. 

Timely Domain Names

Domain names related to future events can lead to cashing in later on. If you’re a couple years away from a world cup, olympics, or other sporting or entertainment event of international interest, the value is likely to go up as the event gets closer. 

Trendy Domains

Get an idea of where the market is turning by looking at domains and keywords that did well last year. 

Top 10 Keywords Searched 2021

These were the top 10 keywords searched in 2021. 

1. NFT
2. Pics
3. Time Management
4. Gambling
5. Meme
6. Kids
7. Pure
8. Luxury
9. Sale
10. Meta

Top Domains Sold in 2021

These were the highest-priced domains that sold in 2021: 

1. Christmas.com- $3,150,000 
2. Angel.com- $2,000,000 
3. Exodus.com- $1,945,000 
4. Meme.com- $1,250,000 
5. eBike.com- $1,008,900 
6. SelfMade.com- $977,500
7. Recursion.com- $904,000
8. GoBet.com- $850,000 
9. Tattoo.com- $812,000 
10. Poker.net- $750,000 

Again, don’t feel obligated to invest in domains related to topics you’re not interested in just because they’re trendy. But if you are interested in these, that’s even better! 

Determine the Value of Your Domain

Find out how much your domain is worth so you can figure out a reasonable price, if it would be worth it to pay to promote it, and other details of your domain selling and promoting strategy. There isn’t a formula that will tell you the price you should list your domain for, but these 

Read Comparable Past Sale Data

Data on how similar domains sold recently is a solid place to start. You can see past domain sales data on Namebio. 

DNJournal’s weekly sales report will tell you what kinds of domains sell for high prices. 

Use Domain Appraisal Tools

A domain appraisal tool estimates the value of a domain based on qualities of the name itself and its SEO profile. Some popular ones include: 

• Estibot
• Flippa
• GoDaddy Appraisal Tool
• Sedo Domain Appraisals
• Free Valuator
• Website Outlook
• $iteprice

Ask for Help on a Forum

A domain's value is as much as a buyer is willing to pay for it. Who better than the potential buyers and experienced sellers themselves to give you a little guidance? 

NamePros

A popular domain investing forum where several of the major domain registrars have a presence alongside the investors. 

DomainGang

A source of domain investing news and humor. 

Domaining.com

A one stop shop for domain investors where you can get news, tool recommendations, links to relevant databases, and more. 

Domain Name Wire

A blog that covers topics related to domain name industry news, wordpress, and webhosting. 

DomainSherpa

Articles and videos by domainers for beginners.

DNJournal Sales Report

Home of a weekly report of high value domain name sales. It’s great for seeing what kinds of domains sell for high prices. 

Know Your Target Audience

As you’ve probably figured out, you’re not going to find an exact formula to tell you the right price for a domain. Appraisal tools are a great starting point, but there’s more to it than algorithms and search rankings. Knowing the value of your domain requires context. Who are your potential buyers? What industry are they in? How important are websites to their business? How relevant is your domain? What are similar domains selling for? The answers to all of these questions will help inform the value of your domain when you combine them with the data. 

Set Up a For-Sale Landing Page

For Sale parked pages let people who type the domain name into their browser know that it’s for sale. Once the domain has been purchased, they may switch to “Coming Soon” until the owner sets up their website. Parking a domain is easy and straightforward. The nameservers just need to be set to the registrar’s defaults.

List Your Domain Name on Domain Marketplaces

A domain marketplace is a site focused on buying and selling domain names. Most of these sites, including SAV, are also domain registrars. Domain marketplaces allow any user to list domains for sale and collect a small commission fee. Domain listings with a fixed price are called Buy Now or Buy It Now (BIN) Listings. 

You can list your domain on as many marketplaces as you want. Listing is typically free, but they do take a commission from all sales that take place. 

Sell Your Domain Name at Auction

Most domain marketplaces run domain auctions alongside their fixed-price offerings. There are also platforms that exclusively sell domains via auction. Fixed price listings are usually a better choice for lower-value domains while auctions are better for higher-value domains. Some sellers of premium domains with five or six figure values sell on offer-only, but we don’t recommend that for beginners in the domain investment game. 

Use Social Media

Social Media is a perfect venue to reach a lot of buyers quickly. Keep your posts short and sweet and focused on what the domain can do for potential buyers. Then, link to your landing page or invite them to reach out to you to make an offer. 

Facebook

Facebook pages and groups based around the industry or niche you’re selling to are great places to promote your domains for free. If you can justify spending a little money, taking out ads targeted towards your ideal audience could get you a buyer faster. 

Twitter

Twitter is full of communities. Finding them isn’t as easy as it is on Facebook, but the platform is known for making it easy to share content far and wide. Start by looking for tweets and users in these hashtags:

#domainname

#domainnames

#domains

#selldomains

Then use one when you tweet about the domain you’re selling. 

LinkedIn

If you’re looking for business owners and entrepreneurs, LinkedIn is the place to find them. Posting about the domain on your timeline is one step, but the real value of LinkedIn for domain sales is in finding buyers for outbound sales. Search for companies and users using the keyword(s) in your domain and filter by industry, company size, location, and more to find your ideal buyers. 

Use Outbound Sales to Find a Buyer

You don’t have to just sit around and wait for buyers to come to you. With outbound sales, you can go to them. It starts with targeted research to find potential buyers, then reaching out to them via email and negotiating a deal. These buyers are typically businesses that are relevant to your domain. You can find buyers by searching the keyword(s) in the domain on search engines and LinkedIn or looking for owners of similar domains, especially if they have them with less valuable TLDs. Once you’ve closed a private sale, it’s nice to send a thank you note and a LinkedIn request so you can maintain a professional relationship with them. 

Hire a Domain Broker

A domain broker can find buyers and facilitate sales on your behalf. They can also help buyers negotiate prices and purchases of domains that are not listed for sale. Most brokers are paid by commission, meaning you don’t pay them unless they successfully facilitate the sale. That means there’s limited risk for you to hire them as a seller. On the other hand, brokers are often only interested in working with sellers or domains with high five-figure values. Before you reach out to a domain broker, make sure you understand their payment structure and can present the domain’s estimated value. 

Use an Escrow Service 

An escrow service is a neutral third party that facilitates the transfer of funds and ownership of the domain once the buyer has paid. This process protects both you and your buyer by ensuring that the process goes smoothly and everyone fulfills their side of the deal. They’re not always necessary if the purchase takes place on a marketplace, but you should always use one for private sales. We recommend Sedo’s, but escrow.com and Payoneer Escrow are also popular. 

How Sav Can Help

You can sell your name on as many marketplaces as you want, but with features like these, make sure Sav is one of them: 

• Great domain name selection
• Low prices
• 4% commission rate
• Free SSL and WHOIS privacy
• An affordable website builder
• DNS powered by CloudFlare 

Get started today to find out more!